Key Takeaways
- A mother in Palm Coast shot an intruder who threatened her and her children during a home invasion.
- The intruder, Michael McDonald, 33, entered uninvited and faced the mother in her home.
- She fired one shot, hitting him in the arm, and he fled, but deputies later found him at a hospital.
- Sheriff Rick Staly supported the mother’s actions, stating she legally defended her family under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
- McDonald was arrested for burglary with assault and has a history of prior arrests.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
BUNNELL, FL — A Palm Coast mother stopped a home intruder with a single gunshot Sunday afternoon after he forced his way inside and threatened her and her two children, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
I’ve covered enough of these to know how fast they turn deadly. This one could have. It didn’t, because she was armed and willing to defend her family.
Around 1:50 p.m., Flagler Emergency Communications took a call from a homeowner on Big Bear Lane who said she had shot a man inside her home. Deputies arrived within minutes and found blood at the scene, but the man and his vehicle were gone.
Detectives identified him as Michael McDonald, 33, of Palm Coast. According to the sheriff’s office, McDonald was known to the homeowner but showed up uninvited and unexpected. He lifted open the garage door, banged on a back window, then came in through the front door.
Once inside, McDonald confronted the mother and her two children in the foyer and made threats, deputies said. She repeatedly ordered him to leave and warned him she would shoot. When he kept advancing toward her, she fired one round, striking him in the arm. He fled in a silver Kia SUV.
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Deputies found the vehicle a short time later at AdventHealth Hospital, conducted a felony stop, and detained him. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The mother and her children were not hurt.
“When someone invades your home and threatens you and your family, they will likely be shot,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in the release.
Staly, who was re-elected to a third term in 2024, called McDonald a violent repeat offender and said the case is why Florida’s Stand Your Ground law exists. The sheriff’s office said the homeowner acted lawfully in defending herself and her children, though it noted the investigation remains active and ongoing.
McDonald was arrested for burglary with assault and booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where he is held without bond pending arraignment. The sheriff’s office said his record includes prior arrests for grand theft, drug possession, possession with intent to sell, resisting, obstruction, DUI, and robbery with a firearm. The current charge is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless convicted.
A mother facing down an intruder advancing on her kids had seconds to decide. The law gave her the right to protect them inside her own home, and she did.
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